"Empty?"

Lucius, who controlled the overall situation in the sky with his wind-based levitation spell, received a message from the communication matrix and couldn't help but frown.

"There is a gathering formation of dark elements in the central warehouse. It seems to have been set up hurriedly, and from the traces in the warehouse, it is indeed inhabited by someone recently."

In other words, I didn't search the wrong place, but they were discovered in advance?

"An oversight... Let's start searching from the warehouse center and expand outward."

Lucius smacked his head. He had been persistent until now to take care of the invaders all at once, and now he was tired...

He scanned the surrounding blocks with his mind again, confirming that there were no obvious magical disturbances, then staggered home to sleep as the headmaster.

...

Two blocks away from the warehouse, the streets were bustling with people, completely unaware of the nearby explosion.

At a deserted open-air coffee shop by the street, there were hardly any customers - which was not surprising, as the personal tournament was coming to an end, and the most exciting part was happening. Most people who came were watching the matches.

Under a certain sun umbrella, the only table had four customers sitting around it, each with a cup of Snow Top coffee in front of them.

However, the only one who seemed to have a good appetite was the girl sitting closest to the table, holding a glass cup and slowly sipping the black coffee under the snowcap, swinging her feet that couldn't reach the ground.

"Sir Judicator, should we just sit here like this?"

Johannes absentmindedly stirred his drink with a straw, staring at the light brown liquid that appeared after the cream and black coffee mixed.

"What else can we do?" Vila asked in return, "With their current search efforts, it's impossible to continue setting up. It's better to relax a bit, you know. Oh, there goes another one, hmm, they're called 'Watchers,' right?"

"But..."

Johannes's expression remained conflicted, and the female knight sitting next to him, Karina, had a similar expression. Their conflict was not about enjoying afternoon tea, but the so-called setup.

"Sir Judicator, I feel uneasy about cooperating with the Black Elves." Karina took a deep breath and said firmly in the end.

Karina came from a common background and became a probationary knight in the holy knight order due to her outstanding talent in martial skills since she was young. In the education she received, light and darkness had always been incompatible. Compared to Johannes, who had helped Heinrich in the rebellion, she found it even harder to accept this cooperation.

"Hmph, do you think I'm willing to cooperate with all of you?" Agatha coldly spoke up. After suppressing her fallen bloodline once again, her appearance returned to normal - blond hair and blue eyes, looking like a typical Elf.

Compared to the willingness to cooperate, Agatha was now more concerned about Vila. She was clearly just a teenager, but her knowledge of Magic plants surpassed her own, and she had astonishing abilities in other Realms.

For example, disguise.

The dozens of Black Elves who infiltrated here have not been discovered until now, and a large part of this is thanks to Vila's disguise technique - without using any Magic, she could make the distinct features of the Black Elves look exactly like ordinary Elves through makeup and hair dye.

In addition, the parasitic flowers inside the Black Elves absorbed the dark attribute magic, truly concealing their true identities even from the Milt Academy.

Thanks to their clever disguises, it was difficult to spot the black Elves even when they strolled confidently down the streets, allowing them to operate discreetly in different corners of the city instead of gathering in one place and risking exposure.

"Because they rely too much on magic," Viola observed as she rested her chin on her hand, studying Agatha's expression.

"And what about Milt? Though their goal is to protect the 'weak,' in order to achieve that, they have to become 'strong' themselves. They are up against natural disasters and demonic beasts, dealing with major emergencies. It's not impossible for them to habitually overlook these 'smaller aspects.'"

But then again, even if the disguises of those black Elves were uncovered, as long as Milt didn't go so far as to mercilessly hack them all down, Viola's objective would still be achieved.

After all, justice requires kindness and forgiveness.

At that moment, a cheerful voice sounded from behind the counter.

"Boss, boss, I want three scoops of sundae, one with strawberry sauce, one with chocolate sauce, and one with pineapple sauce." A blonde girl in a white shirt stood in front of the counter, gesturing "three" with her hand.

"That will be three silver coins. Please wait a moment, it will be delivered to your table shortly."

Tiran and her companions had come here to join in the fun, only to discover that the so-called stronghold of the black Elves was empty. So, not wanting to search and not yet ready to return, the three of them followed little Angel to this place.

"Aya-senpai, listen to me, the sundaes here really taste amazing. The milk flavor of the ice cream is richer than the twenty or so places I've eaten at in recent days, and the fruit sauce is doubled..."

Little Angel chattered endlessly, her face saying, "Praise me, praise me."

However, Aya's heart trembled as she listened. Oh dear, Xiao Fei's obsession with food has awakened completely, hasn't it? What if when they return to Heaven, the Goddess discovers that Xiao Fei has turned into a food-loving Angel? Will she hold Aya accountable?

After all, it was Aya who had taken her to that Oriental buffet restaurant that was almost closed down.

"It looks pretty good, but I wonder how it tastes...hmm?"

Tiran looked at the menu, and the pictures did indeed look tempting. However, as Princess, who had fallen into the trap of "everything is judged by physical appearance" countless times before, she didn't hold very high expectations until she actually saw the real thing.

It was at this moment that Tiran noticed another table under the parasol.

When they saw each other, Tiran froze.

Almost simultaneously, the four people at the other table recognized Tiran as well.

"Silver War Maiden?!"

"You scoundrel who deceived me in the capital!"

Johannes was the first one Tiran recognized, followed by Agatha, who had been frozen in ice not long ago, and finally, her gaze fell on Viola.

"Angelica?"

In that brief moment of eye contact with Tiran, Viola also froze for a second but quickly regained her composure. Setting down her glass, she stood up and lifted the hem of her female clerical attire in a standard gesture, smiling at Tiran as she greeted her.

"I'm Viola. The princess probably knows my sister. Hmm... looks like that little brat has been staying docilely in the Dark Swamp, very obedient."

Tiran squinted her eyes, staring at the four individuals in front of her, quickly calculating in her mind. Johannes was an associate of her older brother, Agatha was a black Elf, and the other two were strangers... mainly Viola, Angelica's sister? Why were they mixed up with these two groups of people?

"But it doesn't matter, catch them first and then we'll see."

It's more convenient to simply knock them down rather than think too much.

"Aya, Xiaofeizi, let's do it!"

With the contract binding them, communication was smooth for Aya. She also understood the situation. The moment Tiran spoke up, she charged forward. At the same time, she activated her Dragon Magic, causing thick ice walls to suddenly rise around the open-air cafe, growing as if alive and finally closing in to form a half-spherical ice shield above.

"Attack!"

The first one to intercept her was the holy knight sitting closest to Aya. Although Aya's charge was fast even in her humanoid form without activating her Draconic Scale, it was still within the range that a level seven knight could react. She unleashed her Holy Chi in an instant, reinforcing her sword to directly block Aya's punch.

The force transmitted through the blade made Karina's expression change. She quickly strengthened her Chi output to barely hold on. But for Aya, it was just an ordinary punch. After being blocked, she followed up with a spinning kick, kicking Karina, who couldn't defend against it in time, flying three to five meters away, knocking down tables and chairs.

"Tch."

Seeing Karina being kicked away, Agatha didn't have much of a reaction. Even if they were held back here, it would be meaningless no matter how much they set up.

His blue eyes turned blood-red, and his golden hair turned pitch black under the shroud of dark aura. Suddenly, within the originally pure coldness inside the ice shield, an aura of coldness was added.

The viscous dark magical energy turned into countless spears from all directions, piercing towards Aya. Although a part of them was blocked by Aya's timely activation of her Holy Light Shield, more dark elemental spears penetrated the defense.

However, even if the spears were sharp, they were meaningless if they couldn't hit.

"Oh Holy Fire, burn away the darkness!"

With solemn declaration, the dark elemental spears were burnt to ashes by the intense flames that appeared out of thin air before hitting Aya. Little Angel spread her Angelic Wings, and the white feathers flapped behind her, carrying her body. In her golden pupils, holy flames flickered.

"Waaaah!"

The menacing dark magical mist instantly shattered and dissipated before Fiona, like morning mist, while the intense flames burned onto Agatha through the flow of magic power.

For Agatha, who had accumulated a large amount of dark elemental energy through his fallen bloodline, this was like the most intense poison. Agatha, suffering from tremendous pain, rolled on the ground. A large amount of black mist formed by the accumulation of dark elements poured out of his body, but before it could disperse, it was burned to ashes.

"Truly the Incandescent Angel, your luck is really too good."

Vera looked up at the small Angel with her wings spread wide open, her aura completely different. She could hear Agatha's painful screams in her ears, but her expression remained calm.

"But I'm surprised that His Highness Tiran didn't take action personally. According to your personality, shouldn't you have charged forward already?"

Glancing at Tiran, who was standing in place, Vera took a step back, clasped her hands behind her back, and smiled.

"..."

"It seems Agatha was right. Your Highness, your strength is really problematic, isn't it? Can't you use the laws anymore?"

"Too much nonsense. Even if she can't use the laws, I can still deal with you."

For some reason, Aya always felt a breath from Vera that disgusted him and made him want to stay away. It's better to deal with her quickly.

Making up his mind, Aya began to chant his Dragon Magic again. Two flames seeds started to grow in his hands, and the ice shield that was just released started to melt under the rising temperature.

Great Magic: Branch of Calamity.